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Boulder's Flagstaff Star vandalized, set to be repaired Friday

Caretaker finds broken bulbs, cables cut and ripped from steel fame

By Mitchell Byars, Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
09/26/2012 02:09:33 PM MDT

Updated:
09/26/2012 05:18:37 PM MDT

Craig Reynolds looks over a broken bulb as he assess the damage to Flagstaff Star in November 2010. The star has been vandalized again, and Reynolds plans to repair the holiday display on Friday. (Paul Aiken / Camera file photo)

The Flagstaff Star that lights up every year during the holidays was badly vandalized some time in the last year, but the man who maintains the lighted display said he hopes to have it fixed this week.

Craig Reynolds, of Lord and Reynolds Electric Services, said that when he recently went to inspect the star on Flagstaff Mountain, he found that several light bulbs and cables had been ripped from its steel frame.

He said several cables also were cut.

"It's the most damage I've seen in the past six or eight years," said Reynolds, who has maintained the star since 1998.

Reynolds said he thinks the star probably was vandalized some time in late 2011 or early 2012, shortly after it was turned off. The star is kept out and accessible all year, but Reynolds said it is typically vandalized in the time shortly after it goes dark following the holidays.

Reynolds said he hopes to repair the star when he goes up to Flagstaff on Friday, and said he has no doubt it will be ready in plenty of time for the holidays.

This year's Switch on the Holidays event is scheduled to take place Nov. 18 on the Pearl Street Mall.

A police report was not filed, Reynolds said.

The star and the bulbs, first put on Flagstaff Mountain in 1947, are left up year-round. The display was reconstructed into an Easter Cross in 1949 and a peace sign in 1969, but has since been left as a holiday-themed star.

The last significant vandalism came in 2010, when Reynolds discovered more than 100 broken bulbs.

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